A Safe Place for Kids in Deheishe Refugee Camp

Welcome back to our newsflash! How is the summer going for you?

In Deheishe we finished all the Ramadan and Eid festivities (the month of fasting and subsequent festival). Now we are fully ready to host our first Summer Camp of 2017 (after working really hard on our greenhouses project all summer long + several kids’ activities in our center to keep everybody smiling!).

As always, registration for the summer camp opened after the program was published widely in the community, to allow all families in the camp to hear of the opportunity.

The summer camps are a great way for kids to be entertained during their summer break, but they do much more than that. The camps are a place for friendships to bloom and valuable life skills to be learned. Team play? Check. Creativity? Yes. Speeching? Check. Problem solving? Of course. National identity? Always. Global citizenship? Yes! All this is a very welcome distraction for the kids who have been woken from their sleep by the army’s shots and sound bombs for several nights in a row now… Because of Karama’s limited space available, we can take up to 85 children per camp and a long waiting list stands for the next camp to come.

You can help us organize these activities by donating on GlobalGiving! More donations will allow us to spend more on supplies for games and craft and cover lunch and drinks for our participants. With more support, Karama would also be able to take the children on trips, which are a crucial fun and developmental aspect of the summer camps.

The activities in Karama's community center also give a chance for some of the older teenagers to grow in responsibility and skills by becoming one of the camp leaders. Several youngster have been busy in Karama in the week before the summer camp, to prepare with the staff. They have come up with themes, games, trips and crafts that will engage all participants in useful activities. In the coming days, they will be role models for the young participants up to 13 years.

This summer break; don’t forget to share a word about Palestine with your friends or family! Do not forget your friends in Deheishe and let your community know your heart is in Palestine too :)

Love from Palestine

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Links:

• Karama's Greenhouses Facebook Page

Partnering with the EU – will you join us?

Big news this time in our Global Giving news flash! Karama has started a new chapter in its work and signed a partnership with the European Union. Karama applied with our rooftop greenhouses initiative for funding under the EU’s framework for civil society support for economic development. And in February this year we could officially kick of preparations: we are going to take these rooftop gardens all over Palestine!

In the coming 4 years Karama will reach 220 families - not only building greenhouses on their roofs, but also establishing production units that will allow the participants to add more value to their products. Imagine; now women won’t only be able to profit from fresh cucumbers. But they will also work together to sell an assortment of pickled vegetables (a food staple here), dried herbs and tomato puree – just to name a few! By using the produce from their own roofs, they will be able to sell a higher value good and thus earn higher profits!

EU provides such funding to local civil society organization to increase economic opportunities for the most disadvantaged. However, they don’t fund 100% of the project. Karama will have to contribute 10% to the total project budget – which is a huge amount for a small organization like ourselves without any own resources. In the coming time therefore, we need to call on our network and supporters to help us bridge the gap.

These new steps in Karama will not be taken if you're not going with us! By bridging the funding gap, we will be able to provide at least 220 women and young people with rooftop gardens and trainings! More than 1320 refugees will increase their diet and health status and the whole community of 50,000 refugees, benefits from more accessible fresh produce. Let’s be a part of this movement, so we can spread healthy habits to more refugee communities around the world.

New project = new project website!

www.karamagreenhouses.org

In our next news flash we will update you exactly about the funding opportunities we will offer in this new project. But be ready to sponsor some seeds, soil or even get your own whole garden in Deheishe! ;)

Thank you for your support always! We hope you will share our enthusiasm with us about the project. If you have any questions about the developments at Karama, be sure to hit reply and send us a message. 

Links:

• Visit Our New Project Website